Egypt acting health minister says Covid increased suffering of Arab peoples

CAIRO – 22 May 2022: Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said Sunday that the coronavirus pandemic has, over the past two years, increased the suffering of people adding to their already unfortunate health, economic and social circumstances.

The pandemic has spilled over into many Arab countries, Abdel Ghaffar acknowledged, pressing for further effort to undo the harm, especially as the humanitarian conditions continue to aggravate due to ongoing conflicts and wars.

Abdel Ghaffar was speaking during the 57th meeting of the executive office of the council of Arab health ministers, currently held in Switzerland on the sidelines of the 75th general assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The minister made it clear that eight files are on the agenda of this session, stressing that the topics are of common interest to all Arab countries. Hopefully, the executive office could reach a consensus about those issues before referring them to the council of Arab health ministers, he expressed.

Abdel Ghaffar thanked Haifaa Abu Ghazala, the Arab League assistant secretary general for social affairs, for her pivotal role in organizing meetings of the council of Arab health ministers and its executive office.

On May 21, Egypt’s Ministry of Health said that the average number of daily coronavirus infections and deaths has hit five and two respectively over the past week.

In a statement, the ministry said the average number of daily recoveries reached 23 people after they received the required medical care, recording a total of 445,591 recoveries since the start of the pandemic.

The number of people who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus reached 34,874,799, the ministry said, urging citizens to register their information at the ministry’s website: https://egcovac.mohp.gov.eg/#/registration to receive the vaccine.

The number of people who received the first dose of the vaccine has reached 45,304,489, while 3,068,048 booster shots have been administered to citizens, according to the ministry.

“Coronavirus vaccines contribute to protecting all family members from severe infections with coronavirus and its variants,” the ministry said, addressing citizens.

The ministry also stressed that the Egyptian state spares no effort in providing vaccines to citizens for free within the framework of the ministry’s keenness to protect the health of citizens.

Egypt has seen a decline in coronavirus infections and deaths as well as hospitalization rates over the past weeks.

On 14 April, Egypt’s Qena governorate has been declared free from coronavirus for the first time since the outbreak of the virus in March 2022, said the Ministry of Health and Population in a statement.

The ministry added that all the PCR samples for suspected cases or travelers in the governorate tested negative for the virus over the past 15 days.

The ministry attributed the reason to the high vaccination rates and booster doses given to citizens. He added that medical teams across the governorate’s hospitals commit to their national duty to deliver the vaccine to all citizens.

On 6 April, the ministry also declared the northern Egyptian governorate of Beheira free from coronavirus cases for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Beheira has been one of the Egyptian governorates with the highest coronavirus vaccination rates, the ministry said, quoting Hany Gemeia, deputy undersecretary of the ministry in Beheira.